Verse 3

In plain words

So that each of these questions can be answered in its turn, the Blessed Lord now speaks —

'The imperishable' — it never decays, and so it is called imperishable: the Supreme Self itself, exactly as the scripture says, 'Under the rule of this very Imperishable, Gārgī, everything stands' (Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad 3.8.9). And though the syllable Om is also sometimes called imperishable, that isn't what's meant here — elsewhere the Gītā itself calls Om only a doorway to something higher, so Om can't be the highest reality being pointed to. 'Supreme' fits this Imperishable precisely because there is nothing above it. And that same supreme Brahman, considered as it lives within each body as the innermost Self — that is its own true nature, and that is what adhyātma means. Take the body as the ground you're standing on: the very thing at work inside it as the inward Self, the reality that ultimately is nothing but Brahman itself — that is adhyātma. And karma — 'the maker of every being's coming into existence' — is nothing other than sacrifice: the actual giving up of an offering, rice or cake, for the sake of a deity. That is what the word karma means here. And it is from this act of offering, as if from a seed, that rain follows in its season, and from rain the whole procession of life, everything rooted and everything that moves, comes into being.

Close to the Sanskrit

For the determination, in due order, of these questions, the Blessed Lord said —

'The imperishable': it does not perish, therefore it is 'the imperishable,' the Supreme Self — as in the scripture, 'Under the rule of this very Imperishable, O Gārgī' (Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad 3.8.9). And because the syllable Om is further qualified as 'other/higher' in 'Om, the one syllable, is Brahman' (Bhagavad Gītā 8.13), it is not included as the referent here. And 'supreme' is a qualifier more fitting for the Imperishable, that Brahman which has nothing higher. Of that very supreme Brahman, the state of being the inward Self, body by body, is its own-nature; 'own' and 'nature' together make 'own-nature' — this is called adhyātma. Taking the body as the point of reference, the entity that functions in the capacity of the inward Self and that culminates in the ultimate reality, Brahman — that own-nature — is called adhyātma; it is denoted by the word adhyātma. 'The maker of the coming-into-being of beings' existence': the existence of beings is 'the existence of beings'; the arising of that is 'the arising of the existence of beings'; that which makes that is 'the maker of the coming-into-being of beings' existence' — that is, the producer of the origination of the substance of beings — this is the meaning. 'Emission': relinquishment, that is, the giving up of a substance such as oblation-rice or sacrificial cake with a deity in view; this very emission-characterized act is sacrifice, termed 'karma,' called by the word karma — this is the meaning. For indeed, from this, which has become the seed, through the sequence beginning with rain, the stationary and moving beings arise.

In plain words

“Arjuna! ‘Akṣaraṃ brahmaparamaṃ’. The supreme akṣara is Brahman. Akṣara means that which does not undergo destruction. ‘Brahma’ also means ‘that which is great’. Now the question may well arise, ‘How great?’ However great one thinks it, it is greater than that! ‘Akṣara’ has another meaning too: it is also called ‘the all-pervading’. Brahman is not merely akṣara; it is the supreme akṣara. That which cannot be known through place, time or knowledge, nor by any other kind of means; which, whatever is done, does not perish, does not waste away, but remains; which never undergoes destruction: that is akṣara.”

“To attain this steady ‘Brahman’ is the goal of mankind. Though akṣara and Brahman appear as two words, two sounds, both are one. They indicate the saguṇa and the nirguṇa of Brahman. The word akṣara denotes ‘Oṃkāra’, which expresses Brahman. That is why this is also called ‘Akṣara Parabrahma Yoga’. Brahman has two epithets, parama and akṣara. The word akṣara has the meaning both of ‘Praṇava’ and of ‘Māyā’. Māyā too, which is called akṣara, is an excellent thing that belongs to Praṇava. These are saviśeṣa. Only the one who knows such Brahman attains Me, brother-in-law!”

In plain words

Only when the power called ‘I’ enters all the senses can those senses do their own work. This very power is called ‘adhyātma’, brother-in-law! It is not something everyone can know so easily. It is not possible to know. Only to those who make inquiry with the vision of Viveka is it understood to some extent; only to them does the matter become known.”

“One may say that Brahman is the ‘tat’ padārtha and adhyātma the ‘tvam’ padārtha. To understand it still more easily, one should think of these two as svarūpa and svabhāva. Svarūpa and svabhāva are not different, are they? So think of them this way: Brahman is svarūpa, and adhyātma is svabhāva,” said Kṛṣṇa.

In plain words

After that, Arjuna prayed that Kṛṣṇa explain the third, the subject of karma. Kṛṣṇa, ready, taught: “Brother-in-law! The tyāga that is the cause of the existence and origin of beings is called “karma”. All things, moving and unmoving, are bhūtas, are they not! Why say more? Know that the very saṅkalpa of creation is true karma. The saṅkalpa of God flows in the form of a stream of karma. For this whole visible world, My saṅkalpa is the primal seed. As long as the saṅkalpa lasts, so long the stream of karma keeps flowing; it cannot dry up. Every karma we do in the world is a part within this great stream. The karma which has the form of the saṅkalpa of creation is the cause of the creation, sustenance and dissolution of all beings. Brother-in-law! Why say more? Every small karma done in the spirit of offering to Īśvara becomes the very svarūpa of the Paramātma.”